Albion goalkeeper Jason Steele refused to blame the absence of key players for the two points dropped in the goalless draw against Wolves, and he insisted that Roberto De Zerbi’s side came very close to beating a visiting team that was much improved since the 4-1 victory at Molineux in August.
No matter who is available, the keeper said, the idea remains the same, whether Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March are in wide areas, or James Milner and Jack Hinshelwood. “We work the same way, always the same way with the boss and it’s very tactical always,” he said.
“It has been since the minute he came in. We know what we’re doing out there, you can see. We have an identity, a plan. We played well on Monday, we just didn’t quite get the drop of the ball, but equally, they are a good team.
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“Anybody who thinks that should be a walkover win doesn’t know the Premier League. They are well-drilled, well organised, tough to break through the middle. They have a lot of high, high quality individuals that can punish you. There’s a chance we could have lost that game, so we take the point and move on to Saturday.
“Equally I’m not naïve enough to say we aren’t frustrated that we didn’t win. Over the course of the game we were in a really good situation but we didn’t quite get the luck or the bounce of the ball that you require.”
Steele’s performance helped ensure that we did not lose, and one highlight was his second-half charge out of his penalty area to confront Matheus Cunha as the Brazilian sprinted clear after Lewis Dunk just failed to intercept the through pass. Cunha was driven wide after rounding Steele 32 yards out and ended up crossing the ball tamely out of play.
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“That’s the way we play,” Steele said. “We’re aggressive, so when I see my skipper going out full pelt, I’m going with him, I’m backing him up. I can easily go back on my line and hide, and say ‘Come on then, let’s have a one-on-one,’ but I’m backing my teammate up and probably made it harder for him [Cunha] if anything, I think.”
One positive from the match was a second successive shutout in the Premier League. “I’m happy we kept a clean sheet, although I think I said last time that stats don’t mean anything to us. We’re about winning as a team. I’d rather have won 3-2, trust me.”